Hand Luggage

Hi,

My husband and I are travelling next week and I am sure that our hand luggage will be overweight, but within the dimension allowance.

We will check in online and use the bag drop. What are the chances of our hand luggage being weighed? If this does happen and it is overweight, are there are excess charges we can pay or do we have to re-pack?

Thanks,
Sarah

I've never had my hand luggage weighed on any airline in any class, if you're flying in upper they let you take basically anything you want onboard...[:I]

I got away with a big wheeled case, plus a big laptop bag, plus a large carrier bag full of stuff in Mia this year..

quote:Originally posted by sarahhj
My husband and I are travelling next week ...


Where are you flying to and in what class? If the check in staff do look, they'll firstly do a visual and ask you to hold your bag up, if it looks like you are struggling you may be asked to weigh it!

That said, this hasn't happened to me in a very long time, but that may be due to many factors.

If, worst comes to worst, you are weighed and are over you will be asked to repack your bags - there is no over fee for hand baggage that I know of.

[Nottingham Nick]

There are lots of tales on the Dibb, and other sites, of cases and hand baggage being weighed and re-sorted.

The chances are you will be okay, but if they do weigh it, then you will be faced with either checking it or having to re-pack on the area in front of the check-ins. [B)] I have never heard of an excess baggage charge for hand luggage - it just has to be checked instead of carried on board.

Do you have to have everything in your hand baggage?

If the answer to this is yes, then be aware you are taking a gamble.

Nick

Oooh Nick, snap, perfect timing!

[Darren Wheeler]

18 months ago on a flight to JFK I had to weigh my hand baggage and it just scraped through.

Be prepared it's a definite gamble; our hand luggage was found overweight both 12 months ago AND 24 months ago at MIA check-in, by the Virgin Person who polices the check-in line before you reach a check-in desk. Not sure what happens now, with the Bag Drop, but probably the Virgin Person remains as last year.

We move house every 6 months and the contents were too valuable & precious to entrust to checked luggage.

Both times we said we'd reduce it and went around the corner.

We left the offending hand luggage with a friend seeing us off, then returned to the line and checked-in.

When the Virgin Person wasn't looking we recovered our hand luggage & went into the departure area. No-one checked after that. The overweight (but not oversize) bags went under the seats.

Sorry, but needs must.

Thanks for all of the replies.

We are travelling economy [:I] to LAS and back from SFO. We can't check the offending article - a rucksack full of expensive camera gear. Will try and keep the rest of the hand luggage to a minimum and cross our fingers. If asked to lift it i'll get my husband to!

no, not everyone will weigh hand luggage, it depends who you have on the day checking you in. however weight restrictions are there for a reason, fair enough it might be waivered a kilo or so but would you really want to be bonked on the head with a really heavy bag? and if it hit a small child? well, need I say more.

[Scrooge]

Never had an issue, and there are times my hand luggage weighs more than my checked luggage, just try to look like your not struggling with it.

If you use online checkin and bag drop then noone need ever see what you have as carry-on... Unless it's obviously so heavy and bulky that the security people question it, you should be fine. If you do end up checking in at the desk, then they _may_ ask to look at it, _may_ weigh it and _may_ ask you to check it in. It's all a bit random, I'm afraid.

Chris

[Darren Wheeler]

quote:Originally posted by cshore
If you use online checkin and bag drop then noone need ever see what you have as carry-on... Unless it's obviously so heavy and bulky that the security people question it, you should be fine. If you do end up checking in at the desk, then they _may_ ask to look at it, _may_ weigh it and _may_ ask you to check it in. It's all a bit random, I'm afraid.

Chris



Sorry, but with OLCI and Bag Drop you still have to go to a desk and speak to a check-in agent, if only to answer the security questions. There is where I had my bag weighed.

[mitchja]

Only ever had my hang luggage weighed once (by VS) and that was at LGW several years ago now.

I've never had to do it at LHR or with any other airline at any airport for that matter.

Regards

well all you people must be flying UC or PE or something.
I get my hand baggage weighed virtually every time at Heathrow by Virgin, and had to repack a couple of time. In fact I have gotten quite annoyed about it, as VS seem to be the ONLY airline who are OTT sticklers for it, especially in Economy.
I'm a photographer, so its kind of hard for me to have light bags, and impossible to check them.

you have been warned!

I would suggest following the weight guidelines. If you get as far as the cabin of the a/c, make sure the crew do not see you struggle or do not have to readjust the bag themselves. I have had two heavy bags shift in flight and one seriously injured a passenger. Heavy bags in the cabin get taken straight to the hold, no unpacking and repacking, so be warned. I know it sounds harsh, but I have them taken to the hold as I am not willing to see anyone injured. The rules are in place for a reason.

I don't agree with heavy carry ons being placed in the cabin, as I have been hit on the head by a passenger removing a bag and then dropping something weighing a lot more like 12KGs on my head. It really hurt and I had blurred vision for a while.

Virgin have weighed my bags on a few occassions, and I have had to put the heavy stuff in the hold.

With camera gear, take in in a separate camera bag, as you should be allowed to take that onboard.

I often travel with a laptop bag and a camera case. Never had an issue.

i think really it's a gamble on your part, just be prepared if it is weighed and found to be over you will have to check it or reapck it on the floor.[:I]

I have had my hand luggage weighed a couple of times when in PE but never in Y (strange), and once had it weighed when in first (with a different airline though) but never in Upper with VS.

I normally carry a laptop, wires, video player, and camera in mine and it always fits nealty in a rucksack and never weighs more than 5-6 kilos.

To clarify, I would not class the bag as super-heavy. I weighed it last night and it came in at ~ 8kg - well below the max for those travelling in UC. It's soft-sided and padded. I would say a hard-sided wheelie case is far more offensive in an overhead locker than this one.

It often depends on what it looks like & how you carry it.
Years ago I often used to travel with lots of camera equipment - and a fishing jacket that could accommodate up to 10kg

yep - photo blogs are full of ways on how to avoid weight restrictions (taking out the heaviest camera and lens and putting that around your neck tourist-style is the most common one, along with another heavy lens in your pocket).

I agree that seriously overweight bags should not be allowed in the cabin, but some common sense in special circumstances (film crews, photographers, mothers with babies) Living in the USA I am constantly astonished at what US airlines (in general) allow their passengers to walk on with, many many bags that are blatantly over size and overweight.

nobody likes to be clonked on the head, so care is needed all round. remember that in UC your bags come off first/ early, and that makes it all more bearable to check bags.

quote:Originally posted by Galley Guy

...... The rules are in place for a reason.
Ah, the Nuremberg defence!
Agreed the rules are in place for a reason, but so is this topic.
I guess for every traveller injured by badly placed cabin luggage, there are 100 who have been robbed of items in checked baggage. Some travellers are obliged to carry items too valuable to risk that loss.
Given the 'security' measures, is it really impossible for airlines to prevent baggage theft?

quote:Originally posted by icarus2009
quote:Originally posted by Galley Guy

...... The rules are in place for a reason.
Ah, the Nuremberg defence!
Agreed the rules are in place for a reason, but so is this topic.
I guess for every traveller injured by badly placed cabin luggage, there are 100 who have been robbed of items in checked baggage. Some travellers are obliged to carry items too valuable to risk that loss.
Given the 'security' measures, is it really impossible for airlines to prevent baggage theft?


I have had more theft, in terms of , from my hand baggage mid flight than from checked bags. Unless you do not sleep and take your bags to the toilet with you every time then believe me your valuables in hand luggage are at risk and Virgin will not cover the loss.[V]

I have also witnesed a heavy bag fall on a PAX and split her head open - police officers met the plane when we arrived at LHR and carted off the owner of the offending bag [:I]

quote:Originally posted by hackneyguy

I have had more theft, in terms of , from my hand baggage mid flight than from checked bags. Unless you do not sleep and take your bags to the toilet with you every time then believe me your valuables in hand luggage are at risk and Virgin will not cover the loss.[V]

I have also witnesed a heavy bag fall on a PAX and split her head open - police officers met the plane when we arrived at LHR and carted off the owner of the offending bag [:I]
Your experience reminds me of Bond & Goldfinger: Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action. [:0]
A colleague looks after my stuff; if there isn't one, it comes to the rest room.
While napping (not in the rest room!) I keep it locked (doh! [^] ) & secured to me -it'd be difficult to remove.

Believe me, I don't like having any more hand luggage than necessary.
Often I'm made nervous about items I see being placed in overhead lockers - anything heavy enough to fall & injure should be under a seat, not up there - and I'd much prefer to check-in everything.
Clearly, our respective experiences differ, mine being I've had 100% success looking after my stuff while it's in my charge, but significantly less than that after handing it over at check-in. My regular route involving LHR & MIA went through a very bad period in the past, but seem to have improved of late.

quote:Originally posted by hackneyguy
quote:Originally posted by icarus2009
quote:Originally posted by Galley Guy


Given the 'security' measures, is it really impossible for airlines to prevent baggage theft?

I have had more theft, in terms of , from my hand baggage mid flight than from checked bags. Unless you do not sleep and take your bags to the toilet with you every time then believe me your valuables in hand luggage are at risk and Virgin will not cover the loss.[V]


OK. so your bags are locked;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzOBZqTMWi0

Makes you wonder doesn't it..
[:0]

I remember being on a VS flight some 20 years ago where the captain came on the intercom to announce that someone had their money stolen from their in-flight bags, and were left penniless, if anyone had found anything, could they hand it in? An hour later, when I guess nothing was handed in, he came on again to announce a plane wide whip-round for donations, and got something like $550 so that person could continue with their holiday in the USA. Everyone applauded and seemed happy!

Of course later on it did occur that just maybe the 'loss' never happened, and that this was a perfect victimless crime, where everyone walked away feeling pleased with themselves!